Hyperconvergence paves way to Safelite's digital future

The glass replacement provider has shifted to a hyperconverged infrastructure to help support AI- and IoT-based services aimed at better serving customers, says Matthew Coy, Safelite's head of infrastructure and operations.

For many organizations, modernizing legacy IT is an essential first step toward digital transformation.

Enter Safelite Group as exhibit A. While exploring voice-based virtual assistants, chatbots, and other tools to better support customers on the go, the company discovered a hitch: The expected explosion in data generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies would shatter the glass repair specialist’s legacy infrastructure.

"The organization is growing and there was concern that the technology was not keeping pace with that growth, and evolving with the new technology direction the company is going to take," says Matthew Coy, Safelite head of infrastructure and operations.

So Coy, who joined Safelite in 2016, implemented a hybrid cloud designed to better serve digital services to 6 million consumers a year — and better position Safelite for a successful digital journey.

Cloud computing, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics are among the many technologies underpinning digital transformations that enable enterprises to better serve customers and bolster operational efficiency. Companies worldwide spent as much as $1.2 trillion on such technologies in 2017, and are on pace to shell out $2 trillion by 2020, according to IDC.